Abba Aftse or ‘Afsé (probably late 400s and early 500s A.D.) was one of the

Nine Saints The Nine Saints were a group of missionaries who were important in the initial growth of Christianity in what is now Ethiopia during the late 5th century. The names of the Nine Saints are: # Abba Aftse # Abba Alef # Abba Aragawi # Abba Garima (Is ...

of Ethiopia. As he has a Syriac name, he likely came from

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

or its surroundings. According to a ''gädl'' (Acts or ''Vita'') of him, he traveled from

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

to Rome. In Rome, he met Abba Garima. The two both traveled to Ethiopia, where they spent much of their time together as mutual companions. Abba Aftse was known as a healer. He founded a monastery in

Yeha Yeha ( ''yiḥa'', older ESA 𐩥𐩢 '; Old South Arabian: 𐩺𐩢𐩱 ') is a town in the northern Central Zone, Tigray in Ethiopia. It likely served as the capital of the pre- Aksumite kingdom of Dʿmt. Archeology The oldest standing str ...

. His feast day is on 29 Genbot (5 June).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aftse, Abba Nine Saints Ethiopian saints 5th-century Christian saints 5th-century Christian monks 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century Christian monks Christian missionaries in Ethiopia